Buttress root

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Buttress roots of a Bay fig tree at South Coast Botanical Garden in Palos Verdes, California Buttress roots.JPG
Buttress roots of a Bay fig tree at South Coast Botanical Garden in Palos Verdes, California
Buttress roots of a colossal cotton-silk kapok in Lal Bagh gardens in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India Bombax LalBagh.JPG
Buttress roots of a colossal cotton-silk kapok in Lal Bagh gardens in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India
Buttress roots. Jensen's Crossing near Cooktown, Australia. 1988 Buttress roots. Jensen's Crossing near Cooktown, Australia. 1988.jpg
Buttress roots. Jensen's Crossing near Cooktown, Australia. 1988

Buttress roots, also known as plank roots, are large, wide roots on all sides of a shallowly rooted tree. Typically, they are found in nutrient-poor tropical forest soils that may not be very deep. They may prevent the tree from falling over (hence the name buttress).

Buttresses are tension elements, being larger on the side away from the stress of asymmetrical canopies. [1] The roots may intertwine with buttress roots from other trees and create an intricate mesh, which may help support trees surrounding it. They can grow up to 30 feet (9 m) tall and spread for 30 m (100 ft) above the soil then for another 30 m (100 ft) below. When the roots spread horizontally, they are able to cover a wider area for collecting nutrients. They stay near the upper soil layer because all the main nutrients are found there. [2]

Buttress roots vary greatly in size from barely discernable to many square yards (square meters) of surface. The largest for which there is photographic evidence is a Moreton Bay Fig ( Ficus macrophylla ) at Fig Tree Pocket (an outlying district of Brisbane, Queensland) which was photographed in 1866 with an adult man. The buttresses were 40 to 50 ft (12 to 15 m) long and 35 to 40 ft (11 to 12 m) in height. [3] Halfway out the buttress is twice the height of the man. The tree died in 1893 from flood damage.

The tallest buttresses are those of Huberodendron duckei (Bombacaceae) of the Amazon basin which extend up to 70 ft (21 m) up a tree about 145 ft (44 m) in height. [4]

The most extensive buttresses are those of the Kapok, or Silk Cotton Tree ( Ceiba pentandra ), of the Neotropics and tropical Africa. The buttresses can extend outwards as much as 65 ft (20 m) from the tree as buttresses, then continue as superficial roots for a total of 165 ft (50 m). [5]

Buttress roots of Terminalia arjuna Terminalia arjuna trunk 03 by Line1.JPG
Buttress roots of Terminalia arjuna
A buttress root system provides structural support. Buttress root system..jpg
A buttress root system provides structural support.
Buttress roots of an especially large Ceiba tree near shore of Amazon River, close to Iquitos, Peru CeibaTreePeru02.jpg
Buttress roots of an especially large Ceiba tree near shore of Amazon River, close to Iquitos, Peru

Notable and historic specimen trees with buttress roots

Related Research Articles

<i>Ceiba pentandra</i> Kapok tree cultivated for seed fibre

Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae, native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and West Africa. A somewhat smaller variety has been introduced to South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated.

<i>Ceiba</i> Genus of plants

Ceiba is a genus of trees in the family Malvaceae, native to tropical and subtropical areas of the Americas and tropical West Africa. Some species can grow to 70 m (230 ft) tall or more, with a straight, largely branchless trunk that culminates in a huge, spreading canopy, and buttress roots that can be taller than a grown person. The best-known, and most widely cultivated, species is Kapok, Ceiba pentandra, one of several trees known as kapok. Ceiba is a word from the Taíno language meaning "boat" because Taínos use the wood to build their dugout canoes.

<i>Ficus benghalensis</i> Species of fig tree

Ficus benghalensis, or Ficus indica commonly known as the banyan, banyan fig and Indian banyan, is a tree native to the Indian Subcontinent. Specimens in India are among the largest trees in the world by canopy coverage. It is also known as the "strangler fig" because it starts out as epiphyte, that is, leaning on another tree that it ends up suffocating.

<i>Ficus macrophylla</i> Species of banyan tree

Ficus macrophylla, commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the Mulberry Family (Moraceae) native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New South Wales, as well as Lord Howe Island where the subspecies F. m. columnaris is a banyan form covering 2.5 acres or more of ground. Its common name is derived from Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. It is best known for its imposing buttress roots.

<i>Ficus rubiginosa</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Moraceaea native to eastern Australia

Ficus rubiginosa, the rusty fig or Port Jackson fig, is a species of flowering plant native to eastern Australia in the genus Ficus. Beginning as a seedling that grows on other plants (hemiepiphyte) or rocks (lithophyte), F. rubiginosa matures into a tree 30 m (100 ft) high and nearly as wide with a yellow-brown buttressed trunk. The leaves are oval and glossy green and measure from 4 to 19.3 cm long and 1.25 to 13.2 cm wide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerial root</span> Root which grows above the ground

Aerial roots are roots above the ground. They are almost always adventitious. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids (Orchidaceae), tropical coastal swamp trees such as mangroves, banyan figs, the warm-temperate rainforest rata, and pohutukawa trees of New Zealand. Vines such as common ivy and poison ivy also have aerial roots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strangler fig</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Strangler fig is the common name for a number of tropical and subtropical plant species in the genus Ficus, including those that are commonly known as banyans.

<i>Ficus elastica</i> Species of banyan tree

Ficus elastica, the rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Moraceae, native to eastern parts of South and Southeast Asia. It has become naturalized in Sri Lanka, the West Indies, and the US state of Florida. Despite its common names, it is not used in the commercial production of natural rubber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtain Fig Tree</span> Heritage-listed tree in Queensland, Australia

Curtain Fig Tree is a heritage-listed tree at Curtain Fig Tree Road, Yungaburra, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the largest trees in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, and one of the best known attractions on the Atherton Tableland. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 December 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moreton Bay Fig Tree (Santa Barbara, California)</span>

Santa Barbara's Moreton Bay Fig Tree located in Santa Barbara, California is believed to be the largest Ficus macrophylla in the United States.

A fig tree is any of about 850 species of woody trees in the genus Ficus.

<i>Ficus watkinsiana</i> Species of epiphyte

Ficus watkinsiana, commonly known as strangler fig, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leaved Moreton Bay fig is a hemiepiphytic fig that is endemic to Australia. The species exists in three populations—one in northeast Queensland and the others in southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales. It also has been introduced to Kauai island (Hawaiʻi).

<i>Ficus obliqua</i> A tree, the small-leaved fig

Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.

<i>Pleistodontes froggatti</i> Species of wasp

Pleistodontes froggatti is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla, the species it pollinates. Outside Australia, populations have become established in Hawaii and New Zealand where it was either accidentally introduced or arrived by long-distance dispersal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban dry forests</span> Topical dry forest ecoregion

The Cuban dry forests are a tropical dry forest ecoregion that occupies 65,800 km2 (25,400 sq mi) on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives 1,000–2,000 mm (39–79 in) of rainfall annually. Cuban dry forests can be differentiated into evergreen forests, semi-deciduous forests, mogotes, and sclerophyllous low forests.

<i>Ficus henneana</i> Species of fig

Ficus henneana is a strangler fig only occurring in Australia. Previously considered a variety of Ficus superba which occurs in China, Japan and parts of South East Asia. The cedar fig or deciduous fig grows in Australia from Milton, New South Wales to northern Queensland and the Northern Territory. The habitat is riverine, littoral or the drier forms of rainforest. The fruit is considered edible for humans, but it is not particularly palatable.

<i>Ficus lutea</i> Species of flowering plant

Ficus lutea is a medium to large sized deciduous tree in the family Moraceae. It is commonly known as the giant-leaved fig or Lagos rubbertree. These trees occur from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to Tropical Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest Amazon moist forests</span>

The Southwest Amazon moist forests (NT0166) is an ecoregion located in the Upper Amazon basin.

<i>Ficus sur</i> Species of fig

Ficus sur, with the common names Cape fig and broom cluster fig, is a widespread Afrotropical species of cauliflorous fig.

Ficus amplissima, also known as the Indian bat tree, Indian bat fig, Pimpri, Pipri (Piparee), Pipali or Bilibasari mara is a tree species of flowering plants that belongs to Moraceae, the fig or mulberry family. It is native to Central and southern Peninsular India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, having a significant distribution throughout Western Ghats of India. It is most commonly planted to provide shade in coffee plantations due to its dense and wide foliage. The ripened figs attract many birds, especially during the spring.

References

  1. Young, T. P. and V. Perkocha. "Treefalls, crown asymmetry, and buttresses". Journal of Ecology 82:319-324.
  2. Crook, M. J.; Ennos, A. R.; Banks, J. R. (1997). "The function of buttress roots: a comparative study of the anchorage systems of buttressed (Aglaia and Nephelium ramboutan species) and non-buttressed (Mallotus wrayi) tropical trees". Journal of Experimental Botany. 48 (9): 1703–1716. doi: 10.1093/jxb/48.9.1703 .
  3. Kennedy, Edward B. (1902). The Black Police of Queensland. London: John Murray. Photo facing p. 200 with human figure.
  4. Whitmore, Timothy C. (1990). An Introduction to Tropical Rain Forests. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 51 (photo fig 3.31).
  5. Furley, Peter A. D.Phil.; Newey, Walter W. Ph.D. (1983). Geography of the Biosphere. London: Butterworth. page 279 (fig. 12.5 with caption).